Windows Live makes your address book portable across social networks
By Erna Mahyuni
Yet more reason to believe the apocalypse has arrived. Microsoft’s figured out how to get even more people on Windows Live Messenger and make your address book truly portable. The company’s partnering with not one, but five social networks at a go: LinkedIn, Tagged, Hi5, Bebo and Facebook on a project built on the Windows Live Contacts API. This way, member of those social networks can import Windows Live contacts as part of an all-new data-portability strategy Microsoft’s touting.
Yes, data-portability and Microsoft in the same breath. I can feel the cool air blowing in from Hell as we speak. Besides the tie-up, ZDNet also reported Microsoft’s thrown in another announcement - the launch of their Invite2Messenger service. Users of aforementioned social networks can join and then invite their friends list to join the big party that is Windows Live Messenger. Now all your friends can annoy you on IM, whatever network they’re on!
Facebook and Bebo already have the portability feature integrated, with the other three soon to come. Scoble tried his own hack - making a script that exported his Facebook friends list to Plaxo and got his account banned. Windows Live reps said that now an authorized API is in place, exporting contacts will be more secure.
So the process of using one person’s email database or network to export contacts will no longer happen; a process called ’scraping’ which annoys social networks - for good reason. Basically logging onto another online account within another one without express authorisation has security risks, not to mention the nasty things that could result if things go horribly wrong. If security holes are inadvertently uncovered, applications and personal data are put at risk.
I guess this is where we go, all hail our new contacts overlord.
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